This invention relates generally to printed circuits and, more particularly, to a printed circuit designed to conform to a contoured surface of a vehicle trim panel and a method of forming the printed circuit.
Vehicles typically include a number of trim panels bounded to different interior surfaces. One common type of trim panel is a door trim panel mounted to the interior surface of a door assembly. The trim panel conceals the interior surface of the door. The door trim panel is conventionally formed of a rigid panel, such as molten plastic or pressed hardboard, covered with a flexible decorative trim material such as cloth, vinyl, leather, and/or carpeting. The door trim panel is attached to the door by suitable fasteners.
The door trim panel also often supports a number of electrical components. These components may include lights, window controls, rearview mirror controls, seat adjustment controls, and audio speakers. Each of these electrical components requires an individual wiring connector and power supply lead wires. The power supply lead wires for all the electrical components must be either affixed to an inner surface of the trim panel or to the door to eliminate movement of the wires during operating conditions.
It has been proposed that, the power supply lead wires be secured to a substrate that is subsequently secured to the inner surface of the trim panel. The proposed substrate has been a relatively flat flexible material.
One difficulty encountered in securing the substrate to the trim panel is that the inner surface of the trim panel often includes a number of contoured surfaces. The typical flexible relatively flat substrate is unable to closely conform to these contoured surfaces of the trim panel, thus there is a poor fit between the substrate and the trim panel. Prior solutions to this problem have involved labor intensive fitting of the substrate to a trim panel.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a method for manufacturing a relatively flat flexible substrate that supports a plurality of electrical connections and which can be conformed to a contoured surface in a trim panel.